Family law, definition
The area of law relating to the regulation of domestic or personal relationships and the consequences that flow from the end of such relationships. Family law is concerned with matters such as the welfare of children, property and maintenance disputes between married or de facto partners, and legal termination of marital relationships through divorce or annulment.
(Concise Australian Legal Dictionary Lexis Nexis 4th editon 2011)
The Federal Circuit Court of Australia is an independent federal court under the Australian Constitution.
The Court was established to provide a simple and accessible alternative to litigation in the Federal Court of Australia (Federal Court) and the Family Court of Australia (Family Court) and to relieve the workload of those courts.
The jurisdiction of the Federal Circuit Court has grown since its inception and broadly includes family law and child support, administrative law, admiralty law, bankruptcy, copyright, human rights, industrial law, migration, privacy and trade practices. The court shares those jurisdictions with the Family Court of Australia and the Federal Court of Australia. Some work in those jurisdictions continues to be done in state and territory courts also.
Foolkit, the free legal toolkit, is the largest free legal information website in Australia based on the number and variety of resources. Foolkit, established by Andrew Rogers, was initially written for the benefit of other lawyers in his law firm, with the intention of providing a one stop place for legal information.
The Family Court of Western Australia was established in 1976 as a State court under the Family Court Act 1975 (Cth). This enables the Family Court of Western Australia to operate with both federal and state jurisdiction.
